Cord blood? Who's banking and who's found a good deal?

We're leaning towards banking our baby's cord blood. Some of my friends have done it, others - including doctor friends - say it's not worth the money. But our attitude at the moment is, "why not?" (other than the expense, of course). Who's banking cord blood and are there any specials with reputable banks/companies going on at the moment? Thanks!

Comments (18)

Another thing to consider is that if you decide to bank the cord blood, you won’t be able to do delayed cord clamping for your baby that’s born. It’s one or the other. I prefer to delay cord clamping and skip the banking; I’d rather have the benefit now than save it for “what if’s” later.

I banked × 5 kids. I married a mechanic. We really never had the money each pregnancy but we found a way. Like I wouldn't go on vacation that year and we would put our tax money to it. I watched my baby cousin battle leukemia as a very young child and just knowing that my children's cord blood is stored for life is very reassuring. Each child has their own cord blood in a bank and they are a 100% match to themselves. They will most likely never need a bone marrow transplant if they ever get sick. I good friend of mine goes for kidney dialysis like 3 times a week and she has been doing dialysis for so long now I swear and so does she that she should not be alive however she traveled to China and paid $25,000 to have a stem cell transplant years back. She looks amazing and has continued for many years to look amazing unlike many i know who have dialysis frequently. We both attribute that to a stem cell transplant. She would not of had to pay any money at all had she had her own stored then again cord blood banking wasn't even in existence when we were babies. There are well over 80 diseases that cord blood has been researched to treat and most likely cure. When I had my 1st child back in 2003 I called the cord blood banks in just got as much information as I could and compared them but we ended up going with cryo cell internatonal... Cryo cell Is a private think out of Florida. One of my friends is a neonatologist I have a cousin that is an actuary And another friend that is the CEO of a bank. So I'm not going to lie the initial fee to store has increased over the years but I never understood why some of the people I know didn't store but have more money than God knows... I personally feel it's definitely worth looking into. My dad might have blood cancer and if he does I'm going to let his hematologist/oncologist know about all of my kids their client ids and blood types. With a grand parent or a sibling I believe there is a 50% chance of it being a match. I had my last baby in 2016 and when I stored in 2016 they now do cord and tissue blood banking. So they take a piece of the umbilical cord and send it with the blood. I guess the tissue can be used eventually to repair organs. I am definitely going to call very soon probably within the next week to inquire about baby number 6 and see if I can get a buy 5 get 1 free deal lol. The initial fee is somewhere around $2500. I have been saving and when I pay the fee over the phone they send a kit to your house that you have to store at a certain temperature. So towards the end of my pregnancy I would never leave it in my car while I was at work etc... The initial fee is the largest part of the cost and then you pay a yearly fee which I believe is around a $150 now. The yearly fee never changes. My oldest child is locked in at $90 a year. Again I watched my baby cousin at a very young age battle leukemia and I practically lived at her house. Definitely call and inquire about it because it's worth looking into! Also, The company that I go through will never discard your cord blood if you don't pay the yearly fee believe me. Instead you would have to pay the yearly fees you missed if you ever needed to access it. Good luck.

And FYI, the last baby and ones before I don't remember the 1st lol we did not clamp the cord right away that baby laid on me for a long time before they even extracted anything. I had to be stitched in everything and he was laying on me the whole time.... There was still more than enough blood to extract.

We thought about banking my DS (dear son) cord blood when he was born. After research and talking to my father’s oncologist we decided against it. It is very exspensive and you are not likely to use it for that child. Honestly, if you want to bank it donate it so they can use it for stem cell transplants in cancer patients that can’t find a match.

We are doing the free one - each state provides it it is a lot of paperwork and u hv to be done by 36 weeks and they only work w select hospitals - but it’s worthbit. You bank ur cord blood and if u need u ll prolly not get ur own but u ll get it and all are healthy and screened like crazy. In MD it is Lifeforce cryobanks and they work with St. Agnes and one more hospital I don’t remember. Completely free they send u collection kit when done. Only don’t collect Friday 3 pm till Sunday 3 pm so it’s a risk but it’s free alternative

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